HomeMy WebLinkAboutNFG_The Lancet ArticleC Outloo k
Fw: Nicotine Free Generation: February 2026
From Lewis, Barry < BLewis@yarmouth.ma.us >
Date Wed 2026-02-?5 9:34 AM
To Provos, Sara < SProvos@yarmouth.ma.us >; Hillard Boskey < hillard.boskey@gmail.com >
Here is a good read. Hillard if you want to forward this please do.
Barry
From: Nicotine Free Generatjon <n icotinefreegeneration @gma il.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 25,2026 9:31, AM
To: Nlcotine Free Generation <nicotinefreegeneration @gma il.com>
Subrect: Nicotine Free Generation: February 2026
Attention!: This email originates outside of the organization. Do not open attachments or click
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The NFG policy uses a bifthdate to set a limit on retailers' ability to sell nicotine products. NFG prevents
the creation offuture demand Jbr nicotine b,- preventing sales to anyone born after the designated birth
date. Users who currently are legally sold nicotine are NOT affected.
Please invite us to make a presentation about NFG. We have been speaking
with boards of health, other government entities, and community groups.
The dangers of nicotjne addichon are extremely well known. Therefore, this month we will
emphasize the economic benefits to you, to young people, and to your overall community.
For young people being drawn into nicotine addiction, the financial impacts are profound. A pack of
Marlboro costs S14.08. In 355 days, a one-pack-a-day smoker spends 55,139.20, most of which leaves
your community and goes to Big Tobacco in North Carolina or wherever. That 55,000 could be better
spent here, instead of on addictive drugs. That money is a huge portion of their disposable income.
Think about what YOU could have done in your teens or twenties with an additional 55,000 every yearl
Everywhere in Massachusetts, non-nicotine businesses gain for every person who never gets addicted.
Most local businesses depend on disposable income, and every dollar not spent on nicotine can be
spent in local restaurants, shops, and other local businesses. We need to protect ALL LOCAL BUSINESSES,
and not only those, with their paid lobbyists, who sell dangerous products. Should we single out nicotine
dealers for special treatment instead of supporting our other businesses?
With 55% of our state budget spent on health care, and health insurance premiums going through the
roof, the economic benefits of reducing nicotine addiction are clear everywhere. And the greatest
economic benefits will go to our young people and to our local businesses.
*,**
For a serious but readable academic discussion in The Lancetl
< https/dor,srg/'1 0.'l 01 6/5221 3-2600(25)00400-X>
Nicotine Free Generation has been endorsed by the Massachusetts Medical Society (founded in '1781),
representing over 25,000 physicians, residents, and students. NFG has also been endorsed by the
American Medical Association (founded in 1847), representing over 271,000 members nationwide.
These and other professional societies want what is best for their patients. They review established
medical studies before they endorse.
Spotlight
Nicotine-free generations: a bold policy for public health @ @
Nicotine u5e remains the leading preventable cause of
death and disability worldwide. While the popularity of
non-combustible nicotine produ(ts such as e-cigarette5
and pouches has surged in recent years, growing
evidence highlights their detrimental effects. Althouqh
non-combustible products su€h a5 electronic cigarettes
might aid adults who smoke, their overall benefits and
harms remain uncertain, and they do not address the core
issue: ni(otine use disorder. Across the USA and around
the globe, a growing proportion of younger generations
a(quire a nicotine addiction by vaping, and many of them
are unaware ofthe long-term a55o(iated risks.
By altering neural (ircuit development of the brain,
nicotine (an cause long-term cognitive and behavioural
impairments leading to de6cits in learning, working
memory and attention control. Ni(otine disrupts
reward ty5tem pathways, promoting addiction and
mood disorders. 0f further concern, non-combustible
nicotine products commonly contain unregulated and
understudied additives that have toxic effects on the
body. Despite recent legislative efforts to limit youth
a((ess to ni(otine products, including Tobacco 21 laws
that raised the legal purchase age and restriction5 on the
sale of flavoured ni(otine products, ni(otine addiction
among youth remains a severe and insuff(iently
addressed public health challenge.
Nicotine-free generation legislation offers a unique
and transformative solution. Unlike current age-ba5ed
laws that raise the legal age of purchase, nicotine-free
generation policies implement a birth date restriction:
thos€ born after a spe(i6c date will never be legally sold
nicotine products.
This policy deserves serious consideration. First, because
nicotine-free generation laws are based on date of birth,
they allow anyone who currently has legal access to
nicotine products to retain that access for life. Without an
abrupt ban, the policy creates a slowly shifting landscape
that tilt5 future generations away from harm, ensuring
that retailers and adult consumer' can adrust over time.
Second, enforcement is solely targeted at commercial
retail sales. lndividuals, especially young people, are not
criminalised for possessing or using nicotine. By avoiding
criminali5ation of the consumer or possessor of nicotine
products, this helps prevent ra(jal and socioeconomic
disparities in poli(ing and punishment that have historically
harmed drug enforcement policies. ln other words, under
ni(otine-free generation policies, no individual, of any age,
will be charged for either the possestion or use of nicotine
products. Nicotine-free generation i5 a public health
strategy, not a punitive one. lt doe5 not burden individuals
but rather holds the tobac(o industry ac(ountable. Third,
ni(otine-free generation targets the heart of nicotine
use disorder: adolccence. Nicotine u5e disorder is
overwhelmingly a paediatric-onset condition. Nearly 90%of adult smokers started smoking before age 18 year5,
and 98% b€fore age 26 years. Thus, preventing adolescent
exposure to nicotine products is a highly effective
prevention strategy. Critics of ni(otine-free generation
might raise concerns about autonomy, arguing that adult!
should have the right to make their own (hoices, even
harmful ones. But similar decisions have been made in the
prrblic interest before.We have removed lead from gasoline,
asbestos from construction, andtrans fats from food. These
changes were not made because individuals were incapable
of choosing differently, but because the cost to public
health was too high tojustify ongoing exposure.
The same should apply to nicotine. Every day in (linical
pra.tice, we hear patients say, "l wish I had never started
smoking." We have never heard any patient say "l am sorry
I was never given the opponunity to become addicted to
nicotine." Patients talk about the money lost, the stigma
endured, the years of life lost, and the inability to quit
despite a deep desire to be free of addiction. Their regret
is not about lost autonom, but about being failed by
a publlc health system.
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15
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190: 106716.nd1 Phrriol 2015;
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wwthelah(et.<om/.6pi,atory Vol 14 J:nu..y 2026
Spotlight
Fo, more o..@ntict
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gen€htion m€aturei Q
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For more on Maldiv.3moki.g
ben lo.younger g.i.ntions
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For hore on ni.otin.-fra
9en.6tion neaunr in the
USA see hnp5://
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fab P@ a6sot 2023 9:39
Encouragingly, nicotine-free generation policies are
already gaining traction across the world. Countries such
as New Zealand, Malaysia, and the UK, have consadered
nicotine-free generation style measures.While efforts from
the tobacco industry have stymied these policies before
they could take effect, as of December 2025, The Maldives
became the frrst.ountry to implement a countrywide
ni(otine-free generation policy. Additionall, around
20 muni(ipalitie5 (all in Massachusetts, U5) have already
implemented nicotine-free generation laws and multiple
US states are now considering 5tatewide legislation.
These efforts face fier(e opposition from the tobacco
and vaping industries. These corporations are highly
skilled at undermining public health legislation through
lobbying, litigation, and misinformation. Some nicotine-
free generation efforts have been rolled back due to
such pressure, but the core idea remains popular among
the public and is in(reasingly embraced by health
professionals.
The challenge now is to build on this momentum and
push forward with smart, iust, and evidence-based poli(ies
that prioritise the health of future generations. This is not
about stigmatising people who use nicotine or punishing
addiction. lt is simply an effort to ensure that today's youth
do not become tomorrow's regretful smokers. Nicotine-
free generation laws do not penalise those who are already
addicted. They do not judqe. They do not criminalise.
lnstead, they offer the next generation 50mething precious:
the opportunity to grow up free from the petuasive
influence of nicotine addiction, rather thah experience the
travesty of preventable morbidity and mortality endured
by past generations from nicotine addiction. Although
legitimate (on(ernt exist, such as the potential emergence
of black markets, 6nancial effects on retailer5, and effeds
on ceremonial tobacco use, the benefits of nicotine-free
generation poli(ies clearly outweigh these <hallenges.
This is not a radical idea. lt is a logical evolution in the
fight against one of the mo5t powerful, prontable, and
preventable drivers of disease that humanity has ever
known. Now is the time to act. Let the next genetation
beneft from the hard-earned lessons of the past. Let us
build a worldwhereyoung people never haveto sa, "lwish
I had never started." Let us begin to build ni(otine-free
generations, notjust in name, but in reality.
We deda,e no conlpeting interests.
* Zochory C Rich, Motthew ) Reynolds, Didne E Stovet
za(hary.ri(h@bm(.or9
Departme.toIM€dlcine, Bonon Un velslty 5(hool of Medicine, Eoston, MA,
UsA(ZCR); Haryard Medkal s.hool, Boston, MA, UsA (MlR);Emeritu Membe,.
Department of M.di(ine, Memonal Sloan Xrtteing (and C.nter, NewYo*,
NY. UsA (DE5)j Profe$o. Emerta. Clinlc.l Medl.ine at welll (ornell Medi.al
€ollege, NewYo,k, NY USA(DES)
15 Mthelan.et comrespt tory Vol14 l!nu.ry2026